Self-computing leveling-rod.



Patented Dec l6, I902.

7/ No; 7l6,006.

- A; s. DOAK. SELF COMPUTING LEVELING BOD.

(Application filed Aug. 10, 1901.)

(No Model.)

IAAAAANNNNh Ila.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALVAH S. DOAK, OF WINCHESTER, OI-IIO.

SELF-COMPUTING LEVELlNG-ROD.

SFEGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 716,006, dated December16, 1902. Application filed August 10, 1901. Serial No. 71,574. (Nomodel.)

1.0 all whom, it ntcty concern:

Be it known that I, ALVAH S. DOAK, a citizen of the United Stat es,residing at Winchester, in the county of Adams and State of Ohio, haveinvented a new and useful Self-Computing Leveling-Rod, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention is a bottom leveling rod adapted for use in civilengineering, the object of the invention being to simplify andfacilitate the work in cross-sectioning, in laying out turnpikes, andthe like.

Another object of the invention is to pro- .vide a leveling-rod whichshall be practically self-computing, thereby avoiding a great deal ofmathematical computation necessary with leveling-rods now in common use.

With these objects in view my invention consists, essentially, inproviding a central longitudinally-movable belt passing over rollersarranged at each end of the leveling-rod and having the scales arrangedupon the rod upon opposite sides of the belt.

The invention consists also in providing an adjustable target upon thebelt when arranged in connection with the double scale arranged upon therod proper.

The invention consists also in arranging the scales upon oppositesidesin reverse order, those on one side reading up, while those on theother side are read down.

The invention consists also in certain details of construction andnovelties of combination, which will be fully described hereinafter andpointed out in the claims.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure l is a viewshowing the upper portion of a leveling-rod constructed in accordancewith my invention. Fig. 2 is a view showing the lower portion. Fig. 3 isa side view, the rod being broken away to more clearly illustrate thehinge-joint connecting the two sections. Fig. 4 is a detail View of thehinge. Fig. 5 is an enlarged face view showing the bottom of theleveling-rod. Fig.

6 is a section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 5. Fig. 7

is a detail sectional view taken through the target and belt, and Fig. 8is a detail section taken through the tape directly above one of theindicators.

In carrying out my invention I employ a red A, preferably constructed ofwood,ten feet long, seven-eighths of an inch thick, and three incheswide; but it will of course be understood that these dimensions are notmaterial and that the rod can be made any length, width, and thicknessdesired.

In practice I. prefer to make the rod in two sections hinged at B inorder that the rod can be folded whenever it is desired to pack, carry,or transport the same. By reference to Fig. t it will be noticed thatthe hinge-plate B is made longer than the hinge-plate B the purposebeing to overlap and protect the joint and afford a more rigidconnection when the rod is'opened. and set up for use.

In the further description of this red I shall refer to it as anentirety, inasmuch as the rod when set up constitutes a single .rodrigid throughout its entire length. The rod has a central longitudinalgroove C out in the forward face thereof and a similar groove D cut inthe rear face thereof, and at the upper and lower ends the rod isrecessed to receive the rollers E, and passing around these rollers andtraveling in the grooves O and D is an endless belt F, which ispreferably made of canvas or other suitable fabric.

A circular target G is arranged upon the belt, the belt passing througha guide G, arranged upon the back of the target, and a spring G ,bearingupon the belt, provides sufficient tension to hold the target upon thebelt in any position in which it may be placed, it being understood thatthe target can he slid or adjusted upon the belt as desired. This targethas alternate quadrants painted thereon in red and white. Two indicatorsH are also slidably arranged upon the belt, one near the top and theother near the bottom of the rod. The face of the rod is graduated uponeach side of the central belt in scales of feet, tenths, and hundredths.The left side of the rod is divided into any desired number of scales,the numbers reading from the bottom upwardly, and the right side of therod is divided into a corresponding number of scales, the numbersreading from the top downwardly, as most clearly shown in Fig. 5. Thescale on the left indicating embankments, as will be hereinafterexplained, adjacent to the belt, is in feet and tenths of feet, thelatter being indicated by ruled lines. Adjacent to this scale is a scalein hundredths of feet. This scale is read in connection with the largefigures on the outer left-hand portion of the rod, from 7 to 8 in Fig. 5(left-hand side) indicating one foot and the line of figures commencingwith O0 to 99 show hundredths ofa foot. Any one or more of the scalescan be changed or varied in any suitable manner, as may be desired. Uponthe back of the rod is arranged an ordinary tape-measure M.

It is obvious that a leveling-rod constructed as herein shown anddescribed may be used for a number of different purposes and bydifierent methods; but the following will suffice to show one method ofuse. The rod is set perpendicularly at the center stake if a fill isbeing made. Set the lower indicator at the required fill, using thecolumn upon the left adjacent to the belt, then set the target, slippingit up or down upon the belt without moving the belt until-the targetcomes in line of level, then move the rod to the right, measuringdistance from the center by the tapeline, until when moving the belt up,or down, the target and indicator remaining fixed on the belt and movingwith it, the target reaches the line of level and the reading on theline agrees with the reading on the rod in the secondcolumn upontheleft,as pointed out by the indicator. The result is read oif by therodman, the indicator pointing out in the first column the fill at sidestake and in the second column the distance from the center stake. Ifthe indicator goes to the bottom, it indicates grade or zero. If it goesfarther, use the top indicator, reading down in the columns to the rightof the belt, thus indicating a cut or excavation. By having twoindicators upon the belt they should both be at zero at the same time.The scales upon the left are marked Emb. to indicate embankment andthose upon the right are marked Exc. to indicate excavation.

If, for example, it is found from the profile-book that at a certainpoint a +.33-foot embankment is required, the rodman sets the indicatorH at .33 on scale (see Fig. 5) marked Emb. The rod is always held in aperpendicular position, and so holding it and keeping the belt andindicator stationary the rodman moves the target G up and down until itcomes in line with the level of the instrument. Both target andindicator remain fixed relative to each other during the remainderof theoperation. The rodman then moves the rod to the left at right angles tothe center line of the road, drawing out the tape-line M, the lineman Pholding the zero end of the line over the center stake, (the 'point fromwhich level was taken to set the target,) and if, say, six feet from thestake the rod be set down on lower ground the indicator will go up to,for example, .58, and the re- .58 sult would be written the plus signindicating embankment and the whole signifying an embankment of .58 of afoot atsix feet from the center stake, and the operation would then berepeated farther on. When the rod reaches a point where the indicator Hgoes to zero, the end of the embankment is indicated, and should uponthe next move being made the other indicator come into play anexcavation is indicated and the figures on the opposite side are used.These run in the reverse order from those on the left-hand side. Theouter scale on the right commences with 7 and runs up to 22. On theright the corresponding scale commences with 9 (not shown) and ends with24, (see Fig. 5,) the reason being that an extra four feettwo on eachside of the center line-is allowed in excavations for ditches.

It will thus be seen that I provide an exceedingly simple and elficientself-computing leveling-rod, which will avoid all calculations, andconsequently will save time and errors.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A leveling-rod havinga plurality ofscales arranged longitudinallythereon, and a longitudinally-movable belt carrying an indicator and atarget registering with all of said scales.

2. A levelingrod havinga plurality ofscales arranged longitudinallythereon, a part of the scales being arranged in the reverse order to theothers, and a longitudinally-movable endless belt carrying an indicatoradapted to register with all of said scales.

3. A'leveling-rod having a longitudinallymovable endless belt, anindicator and target on said belt, the target being movable relative tothe belt, and a plurality of scales arranged on each side of said belt.

4. A leveling-rod having a plurality of scales on one side thereof, apart of the scales being arranged reversely to the others, alongitudinally-movable belt adapted to register with all of said scales,an adjustable indicator carried by the belt, and a target movablysecured to the belt.

5. Aleveling-rod having a plurality ofscales on one side thereof, a partof which are arranged in the reverse order to the others, the scales ofeach order being of different denominations,a longit-ndinallymovableendless belt adapted to register with the two series, and an indicatorand a target on the belt.

6. A leveling-rod having reversely-a rranged scales on one side thereof,a part of the scales indicating vertical measurements and a partindicating horizontal measurements, a longitudinally-movable beltadapted to register with all of said scales, and a slidable indicator,and a movable target on the belt.

ALVAI-I S. DOAK.

Witnesses:

J. H. BRADFORD, J. A. MILLER.

